Mr. Xavier kept the entire mansion out of school for three days after the incident, thinking that they all needed time to relax and unwind after the ordeal. To everyone's surprise Quinn was actually annoyed by the announcement, for once she wanted to go to school. Seeing as that wasn't going to happen, she stuck around her friends as much as possible, knowing that once they got back to school she was going to close them to others and to the rush of schoolwork and the upcoming dance. She still didn't know if she'd be going, but Mark made sure to bring up the idea of it at least once a day. To his dismay she still hadn't decided.
On their third day back Quinn arrived late to lunch with the others and Alex. As she sat down she caught the end of the lie that they were telling Alex about where they had been, which was that they had gone out of town for a couple days. She pulled her lunch out of her bag and set it on the table. Mark glanced over at her. "Where were you?" he asked.
"What's it to you?" Quinn replied. She looked around the table, glad for the normality of them all sitting together with a couple on each side of the table and her at the head. She smiled internally at how close Mark and Kitchie sat, and at how Alex was once again playing with Caim's hands, which were now gloved. She turned her gaze away and focused intently on opening her granola bar. Her friends had been more open about their relationships since the first day they had gotten back to school. The security came from the fact that the first minute the quartet had stepped back onto school grounds Alex had come sprinting towards his boyfriend and thrown his arms around his neck, kissing him right in front of everyone on the grounds. Mark and Kitchie had merely walked across the yard and into the building holding hands. They had shared a small kiss before going to their separate classes. The couples had gotten some odd looks in the hallways and the occasional taunt but there had only been one fight between Kitchie and Duncan which Mark had quickly put an end to.
As Quinn returned back to reality from her thoughts she noticed how Alex had propped his legs up on Caim's lap, who had no problem with it as he ate his lunch while Alex flipped through a magazine. Kitchie was now sitting on Mark's lap as they chatted about a movie they had gone to see the night before. Quinn nibbled on the end of her granola bar and her internal smile grew, though she was strict about not letting it cross her features; she didn't want them to see how truly happy they made her. She didn't want them to know how much she really smiled when they were around, how hard she laughed when they said something funny or did something stupid. She didn't want them to know how much she really cared about all of them.
Her gaze swept around the lunchroom, landing everywhere but on her friends as she ate. Finally her eyes rested on a poster for the Sadie Hawkin's Dance, which was two days away. She scanned the advertisement, not having actually read it before. Of course Mark had already told her about it, but reading it off the actually announcement was different, it seemed more important coming from the designated piece of paper. The dance started at six and would end at eleven, the dress code was semi-formal, and the dance would be located in the gym.
She crumpled up her wrapper as she turned back to the four boys. "Isn't the dance traditionally girls asking boys?" she asked. That's what the poster said, but she was a little confused by the fact that the four guys were going.
Alex met her gaze before looking away with a controlled sigh as he set down his magazine. "Yes," he stated simply in a tone that implied that he had been asked this question before, which he probably had. He swung his legs off of Caim's lap. "Traditionally yes but…" The irritation that had started to become evident in his expression and posture cleared and a mischievous smile took its place, making his dark skin glow. "I have a plan."
"Which means he's already done something about it," Caim explained just as Alex finished.
"What did you do?" Mark asked.
"Weeeell…" Alex drew the word out and clicked his tongue ring against his teeth. Kitchie groaned. "Come on Alex, this isn't funny-"
"Yes it is," Alex cut him off.
"Just tell us!" Kitchie pleaded. "Please Alex? This isn't fair, we should know. Come on Alex!"
Alex laughed, resting an elbow on the table and playing with his right earring as he looked from Kitchie, to Mark, to Caim, and to Quinn. "Well I went and talked to the principal about the whole thing. I asked about if it had to be a girl and a guy and he gave me this weak little answer about how it's tradition and all that. So I asked-"
Caim coughed and Alex looked at him. "What?" he asked.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I don't think that Kitchie will be able to sit still long enough to hear all the details." He gestured to the hyper brunette who was bouncing a little in his chair and staring at Alex attentively. Alex laughed. "Ok, well we talked for a bit and I have to admit that I may have blackmailed him a bit…" Quinn smiled at that. "I told him that I'd go to the news stations about not letting us in and that it would paint him as a homophobe which would cause quite a stir in the city. Obviously he didn't want a bunch of angry gays and lesbians attacking him so…" He threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "We can go! On one condition that I don't think Quinn would have an issue with." He winked at her and she laughed quietly. "If any jerks bother us we have to sort it out, he won't have our backs."
"We can handle them," Quinn replied.
"Totally!" Kitchie exclaimed. He cheered and no one made any attempt to stop him. Mark started to clap and Caim wrapped an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders, kissing his cheek. Quinn let herself smile a little bigger. "That's fantastic," she said. "Great job, especially with the blackmail." Alex shrugged. "Oh it was no big deal." He smiled and they continued on with lunch, all conversations now focused on the dance.